Search Results for: blog book review kimchi and calamari

Another Book for Middle-Grade Boys!

Posted on by

Mike Lupica is fast becoming as well-known for his middle-grade novels—in particular, the Comeback Kids series– as for his sports writing and broadcasting. Safe at Home is a book about baseball, friends, parents’ expectations, and fitting in. The main character, Nick, was adopted from foster care when he was nine. This underlies and explains many of his reactions to things. Lupica manages to convey to the reader how Nick’s experiences have influenced his perception of things without making the story all about adoption. As I said, it’s a baseball story. Descriptions of the plays and of the relationships among teammates … Continue reading →

Found: a Book Review

Found is an adventure story based on the worst fears or stereotypes about adoption—stolen children who “belong” somewhere else–yet, it also educates about positive adoption language, “real” parents being the ones who parent you, and birth parents as possibly wanting better things for their children, not as “giving them away”. This paradox makes Found–also called The Missing: Book One—a worthwhile read. The author, Margaret Peterson Haddix, has written over two dozen books for children, including the Shadow Children series, which has sold over 4 ½ million copies. In the prologue to Found, an airplane carrying three dozen babies is found … Continue reading →

My Favorite Book Reviews of 2008

Most of my readers won’t be surprised to learn that I love to read—kids’ books, adult books, nonfiction, picture books—anything. But even I was surprised to learn that I’ve reviewed over 45 books this year. Since many bookstores have post-holiday sales, and since many of us were fortunate enough to receive bookstore gift cards, I’m challenging myself to pick my favorite “top twelve” of the adoption books I’ve reviewed this year. I began the year by starting a series: Adoption Books with Great Art. Although I’m a “word person”, I’ve become increasingly moved by the beautiful ways some artists can … Continue reading →

Book Review: The Ocean Within/Tides

There are plenty of adoption-themed picture books, but fewer stories for the “tween” or early teen-age crowd. (Two others which I have reviewed are Kimchi and Calamari and The Handle and the Key.) The Ocean Within and its sequel, Tides, are a worthy addition to this small but growing body of stories. The Ocean Within bears some similarities to The Handle and the Key in that it gives readers a feel for the point of view of a child being adopted from the foster care system. In The Ocean Within, eleven-year-old Elizabeth has been in foster care for six years … Continue reading →

Book Review–Kimchi and Calamari

My last blogs have featured adoption books for young children. I’m pleased to be able to talk about one aimed at the middle-school crowd. This age group is often hard to find books for. Parents want books that introduce adoption themes so that their kids can feel that there are other kids like themselves and also to spark discussion between parent and child. But most books are either children’s picture books, or teen novels dealing with heavy themes like child abandonment and searching, such as Throwaway Daughter. Kimchi and Calamari also touches on these themes, but in a light-hearted way. … Continue reading →

A Middle-Grade Novel to Skip

There is a dearth of adoption stories, either fiction or non-fiction, for kids in between the picture book stage and the young-adult novel stage. So it’s doubly disappointing that the latest one I read perpetuates old stereotypes. Trophy Kid, or How I Was Adopted by the Rich and Famous is by Steve Atinsky. We hear a lot nowadays about celebrities adopting. Atinsky did have a creative idea to look at what a 13-year-old son of movie stars (one of whom is a political candidate) thinks of his adoption ten years later. Jozef Francis (Joe) was orphaned by the fighting in … Continue reading →

It’s Heritage Report Time for My Korean Daughter

Posted on by

It’s heritage presentation time again. Time for reports, class presentations, potlucks featuring food from students’ family heritages. This year the second grade Heritage Unit and Ethnic Feast will be the time for my daughter Meg, adopted as a one-year-old, to write a report on a country from our family’s heritage, and bring a typical food to the Ethnic Feast which will be held for all second graders and their families. I’ve written a previous blog about my son’s experience with this project two years ago when, after giving the instruction to research “a country that is part of your family’s … Continue reading →